PhD students

When Dutch student Paula Cevaal arrived at Melbourne’s Doherty Institute to begin her PhD, she says she felt nervous, motivated and most of all, right at home.

Expectations were high – Paula’s project entails engineering new ‘kill’ compounds that will hopefully contribute to a cure for HIV. But Paula knew she was in the right place.

The Doherty Institute is a hub for undergraduate and postgraduate study and high-level research training in the study of infectious diseases and immunology. The institute is home to around 190 students from all over the world, with different backgrounds, interests and motivations.

Putri Warta from Indonesia is studying malaria in pregnant women. Julio Carrera is working on a vaccine against the Zika virus. Matthew Pitman is studying the effect of high-dose vitamin D in individuals living with HIV.

Christopher Morgan is a physician who’s also working on a PhD. He’s looking for better ways to deliver vaccination services to children across the world. He’s aiming high, with hopes to see vaccination coverage in PNG rise from 60% to over 90% in the next 5 years, the eradication of polio, and a continuing reduction in other vaccine-preventable diseases.

From curing HIV to eradicating Malaria, students at the institute have big dreams. They are driven by curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. They are inspired by the legacy of Nobel laureate Peter Doherty.

These students are the great scientific minds of tomorrow. They are the future, authors, teachers, researchers – and Nobel Prize winners – who will change the way infectious diseases are prevented, treated and cured across the world.

Create your own interpretation of this artwork with our colouring-in sheet (PDF, 719.3 KB).

Illustrated by Antra Svarcs.